Jason Rennie on his way to a World Record
(Pic: Ben Gaby)

It must be something to do with the name. First we had Nathan Rennie going for the World Record for the longest distance jumped on a mountain bike – he flew 121 feet in the Australian desert, but landed near the bottom of the exit ramp, separated his shoulder, grazed and bruised most of himself and smashed his helmet into many pieces. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Guinness Book of Records (arbiter of all things world recordular) deemed his attempt to be unsuccessful, leaving the record at the 116 feet set by the late Colin Winkleman.

Any debates about whether it should have counted or not have just been rendered moot, though. Another Rennie, Brit MXer Jason, has just added the MTB record to his previous records for jumping motocross bikes – one indoor, one outdoor. That made him uniquely qualified for a bicycle attempt, particularly as all these jumps rely on being towed in by an MX bike.

The venue was Llandegla Forest and the attempt was set up with the help of Kona importers Paligap and local MTB centre operators One Planet Adventure. The two ramps were set up along a stretch of forest track (loose gravel – nice…), with Jason and his Kona Stab Supreme being towed towards the 12 feet high take-off ramp at 80mph by Jim McBain.

And he landed it cleanly, having smashed the record with a massive 133 feet and six inches. Mental. Read more about it at www.konaworld.uk.com or watch a short video.